The wait was brief.
Having lived sealed away for over 500 years, a span of less than a month was but a fleeting moment in Scarlet's infinite lifetime.
Just a blink of an eye, a moment so short it would pass as soon as she closed and reopened her eyes.
"Ah… This is suffocating."
Why did every second feel so unbearably slow? She had endured all this time, but now, the flow of time felt agonizingly sluggish.
Until now, she had never felt any particular emotion toward the flow of time despite living through long years.
A year passed, and she simply thought she'd aged another year. A decade passed, and she thought the world had likely changed in some small way.
But now, why did the passage of time feel so excruciatingly painful?
'Time is suffering.'
Scarlet thought this phrase was profoundly accurate and carved it into the air.
"Ha…"
Her situation felt pitiful.
Lying flat on the ground, Scarlet stared blankly at the ceiling with hollow eyes, mentally counting numbers.
One, two, three…
She didn't do it on purpose.
It was instinctual.
Moment after moment, she found herself compulsively counting time.
"Argh!"
She shook her head violently, trying to rid herself of the relentless awareness of time, but her exceptional witch's perception effortlessly tracked its passage regardless of her will.
Scarlet covered her face with both hands and let out a deep sigh.
'Why am I like this…?'
She might remain trapped here for hundreds more years, and she couldn't afford to let herself be consumed by such trivial concerns.
Her brilliant mind, however, struggled to forget her past. Unless she deliberately sealed memories deep within herself, unwanted thoughts surfaced again and again, haunting her no matter how hard she tried to suppress them.
Until now, Scarlet had intentionally locked away countless memories in the depths of her mind, but this time, it was proving to be difficult.
After all, memories aren't physical objects you can hold or manipulate. Even a witch as powerful as she was couldn't simply forget memories as vivid and emotional as these at will.
It was impossible to completely lose a memory on purpose. To confirm that it was lost, one would first have to recall it, making the act of erasure self-defeating.
For Scarlet, who had never experienced such a struggle before, this was a bewildering reality.
A witch who could accomplish anything she imagined was finally forced to admit—
There were plenty of things even she couldn't do.
The brief moments she had shared with Baek Yu-Seol were memories she would never be able to forget for the rest of her life.
Those memories would likely become her eternal torment.
The time she spent with Baek Yu-Seol stood out as the brightest and most radiant moments in her long and shadowy life. They were so dazzling that even recalling them brought tears to her eyes.
The Witch Queen, Scarlet.
The pitiful Scarlet.
Once called the Blood Witch, she would never forget these memories. Even centuries later, when she returned to the world—
If Baek Yu-Seol no longer existed in that world, she wouldn't be able to feel the same brilliance and beauty in life as she did now.
For the first time, she had learned what it meant for life to be joyful and happy.
She had learned it too late.
Only now did she realize that during those six months, she had been happy.
She hadn't fully savored her happiness when she had it, and now, only after it was gone, did she understand it.
How foolish and pathetic could one woman be?
'Am I even worthy of being called the Witch Queen?'
She had lost the first happiness that had ever entered her life, without even fully embracing it. What a cruel joke her life had become.
Unable to bear her feelings of self-contempt, Scarlet lifted her head and gazed at the sky.
Where was the heaven, and where was the earth?
Resting her head against the bed, Scarlet allowed her old memories to resurface.
It had been a life filled with countless sins.
Despite her transcendent abilities, she hadn't even considered trying to change the world. Instead, she had chased after personal gain.
More wealth, greater fame, and stronger power.
The things anyone would desire were the same things the Witch Queen, Scarlet, had sought.
Some had called her a 'sage,' but how could anyone call her that simply because her mastery of magic was profound?
She had never escaped the bounds of mere humanity.
'Ah, I see now.'
Because of her great power, she had looked down on the weak. She had coldly rejected those who begged her for salvation. She had turned her back on countless conflicts, deaths, and disasters that she could have resolved effortlessly, dismissing them as mere inconveniences.
The number of lives lost because of her negligence was likely immeasurable. The blood spilled because of her could have formed an ocean.
It was strange.
In nearly a thousand years of life, she had never once thought about these things.
Why had she, standing at the pinnacle of the world, failed to become stronger? Why had she been unable to transcend her emotions?
One by one, the answers seemed to come to her now.
Scarlet raised her index finger to her temple.
It hurt.
The memories of her sins and the lives lost because of her indifference haunted her endlessly.
And the memories of the six months of happiness she had experienced consumed her thoughts.
That was why it hurt so much.
'Is this… the punishment God has given me for my many sins?'
To live forever, trapped in the cycle of unending memories, unable to move forward, if that was divine punishment, then she deserved to accept it.
Yet, Scarlet was terrified.
She was gripped with fear.
It felt as though she wouldn't be able to endure it.
'There's only one solution…'
Erase all her memories.
Closing her eyes tightly, Scarlet tried to draw upon the last traces of her mana. But, of course, it was impossible.
No matter how much the countless painful memories tormented her, there was one beautiful memory that had given true meaning to her life. How could she erase that?
There was no way to selectively erase only the memories she wanted. It was all or nothing… she could either forget everything or remember everything.
Scarlet sat with her index finger pressed to her temple, pondering. But even the act of agonizing over such a choice felt cowardly to her, and the thought brought tears to her eyes.
'Why am I like this…?'
For someone with such immense power, why had she lived a life of hiding?
And why, once again, was she trying to run?
There was no human stronger than her in this world, yet countless humans existed who had far stronger wills than hers.
Yes, she finally realized it—
She was nothing more than a coward, a nobody. Having talent for magic didn't make her great.
When that truth dawned on her, it strangely left her feeling lighter. Scarlet let her arm drop to her side.
"Haah…"
A deep sigh escaped from within her, and the tears that had welled up in her eyes began to fall silently down her face.
She decided to accept the punishment.
Having tasted one fleeting moment of sweet happiness, she resolved not to ask for more.
She had lived a life of countless sins.
Even if she could never experience such happiness again, she would endure the pain, day after day, and continue to live on.
'Just give up.'
Deciding to let everything go, Scarlet squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face between her knees.
'Maybe I should just escape into a dream.'
In that place, she might be able to endlessly repeat the same moment forever.
If she was unlucky, the painful memories might resurface, but if she was fortunate—
She might be able to relive the happiness of those days once more.
"Why are you crying like that?"
As she thought about this and tried to force herself into a dream, she suddenly heard a voice.
Her heart sank.
For a fleeting moment, the word hope flickered before her eyes, but Scarlet used her superhuman mental strength to restrain her thoughts.
'Don't be fooled.'
She knew. She understood.
This wasn't Baek Yu-Seol's voice.
No human could possibly have reached this place. Not even a witch hunter with powers that transcended the laws of the world had ever made it here.
The pain of despair after embracing false hope was far worse than the pain of accepting despair from the beginning.
The being that had trapped her here knew exactly how to make her suffer the most.
Now that she had finally decided to accept her punishment and endure the pain, it was trying to tempt her with a fragment of false hope to deepen her suffering.
'I won't fall for such a trick.'
"Be quiet."
"'Be quiet'? That's so harsh."
"You… you're just an illusion created by my desperate longing... You tried to torment me, but it's pointless. I… I…"
Scarlet, still burying her face in her knees, forced out the words that refused to come.
"I am the Witch Queen…"
No response came.
Of course not.
Could the unyielding will of the Witch Queen really be shattered by something as trivial as a hallucination? Scarlet refused to lift her head, choosing instead to wait.
Wait? For what…?
Even though it seemed like it should have responded by now, the voice didn't return.
As she thought, it was just a hallucination.
Just as she was about to convince herself of that—
"Scarlet."
"Have you ever heard of a hallucination equipped with the latest system for holding a proper conversation?"
"...What?"
Her heart began to race again.
That tone, the crude metaphors, the irritatingly familiar voice—
It was all unmistakably Baek Yu-Seol.
"I've never heard of one. But I guess someone as amazing as the Witch Queen would know about such things, huh?"
It was undeniably Baek Yu-Seol.
When Scarlet realized it, she had already lifted her head.
But she couldn't see Baek Yu-Seol.
It wasn't because he wasn't there.
Her vision was blurry, her eyes were overflowing with tears, streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks, making it impossible to see.
Yet, even through the haze, his figure was unmistakable.
With his characteristic, casual stride, Baek Yu-Seol approached her and extended his hand.
As her tears cleared, her vision sharpened, and his face appeared right in front of her.
"You… you… how…?"
"Wow, what a nice place. The interior design is so minimalist… so minimalist there's literally nothing here. At least there's no dust to clean up. What's this? Did you buy that table from IKEA?"
She couldn't make sense of a single word he was saying.
And yet…
She felt like her mind had completely shut down.
She couldn't think at all.
She felt like a fool.
Scarlet, who had always thought of herself as intelligent, had occasionally wondered what kind of thoughts fools might have as they lived their lives.
Now, she understood.
So this is what it feels like to be a fool.
She felt like she had something to say, but couldn't speak.
She didn't know what kind of expression to make.
And so, Scarlet truly became a fool.
"Ha… hahaha…"
She laughed like a fool.
Tears streaming down her face and Scarlet started laughing. Baek Yu-Seol gave her a puzzled look, the kind you'd give to someone acting strangely.
"What's wrong? You'll grow hair on your butt if you keep that up."
"I…"
"You look a little older up close than I thought, but you still look like a high schooler. You'd have no problem going back to Stella."
"St… Stella…"
"Yeah, Stella. How many days have you been skipping without notice now?"
"Going back to Stella… that's… impossible."
She had thought she would never be able to return, but Baek Yu-Seol, completely unbothered, grabbed her hand and pulled her up to her feet.
Half-supported in his arms, Scarlet looked up at him with dazed eyes. He, as always, wore a confident smile as he spoke.
"How much longer are you planning to stay cooped up here? We've got to get back to that miserable school."
Even as he spoke, Scarlet continued to cry and laugh like a fool, prompting Baek Yu-Seol to remark in disbelief.
"Why are you so happy? It's not even that fun."
"I… I know."
"You'll have to sit through those boring lectures again, and when the professors lose their temper like last time, you'll have to swallow your pride and deal with it."
"I know..."
"And when those little punks start acting cocky, you'll have to bite your tongue and put up with it. It's going to piss you off, isn't it?"
"Of course..."
"And you won't even be able to go out whenever you want. The girls' dorm supervisor is especially strict about curfews."
She knew all of this.
But still—
"So what? What's the problem with any of that…?"
Scarlet tightly gripped the hem of Baek Yu-Seol's clothes, as if determined never to let go again.
Then, at last, she told him the words she had been holding back all this time.
"As long as you're there."